Seoul shares were off to a weak start Thursday, as investors took cues from overnight declines on Wall Street.
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index dropped 10.62 points, or 0.47 percent, to 2,269.83 points in the first 15 minutes of trading, as the market heads for the last trading day of 2022.
Overnight, major indices on Wall Street sharply fell, weighed down by losses in tech and concerns that the end of China's zero-COVID policy could lead to a global rise in cases and potentially slow down the global economy.
Health authorities in the United States and Italy have decided to impose stricter measures on incoming Chinese travelers amid the country's recent surge in COVID-19 infections.
The S&P 500 dropped 1.2 percent, the Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 1.1 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq dipped 1.35 percent.
In Seoul, most market top-caps lost ground.
Market bellwether Samsung Electronics was down 1.24 percent, No.2 chipmaker SK hynix slid 1.45 percent.
Top carmaker Hyundai Motor dipped 0.97 percent, bio firm Samsung Biologics retreated 0.72 percent, while battery maker LG Energy Solution inched up 0.92 percent.
The local currency was changing hands at 1,269.4 won against the dollar, up 2.4 won from the previous session's close, as of 9:15 a.m. (Yonhap)
